Immune response

Researchers have identified stem cells in the human thymus for the first time, representing a potential new target to understand immune diseases and cancer. The thymus is a gland located in the front part of the chest, the place where thymocytes (the cells in the thymus) mature into T cells. The thymus has a unique […]

Genoscience Pharma’s Philippe Halfon and Eric Raymond share their expertise on targeting the recycling of unsustainable production of palmitoylated cancer-associated proteins. Cancer relies on palmitoylation for progression Palmitoylation is a global post-translational lipid modification, that controls the localisation, stability, and function of several proteins. For instance, protein palmitoylation involves the covalent attachment of fatty acyl chains, […]

A team of researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California (USC) have found a drug with the potential for curbing painful hyperinflammation from osteoarthritis, according to results of an animal study. The findings indicate that a drug compound, R805/CX-011, may modulate an important cell receptor in the body’s immune system, […]

New findings suggest that the SARS-CoV-2 virus damages an important immune-cell response. The quality of CD8+ T cell response to two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was considerably lower in people with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to people without prior infection, the US study found. In addition, the level of this T cell was […]

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates.  In the news this week, we have covered a number of early-stage studies that could lead to potentially huge breakthroughs in the treatment […]

News round-up for 13-17 March by DDW Digital Content Editor Diana Spencer.  In the news this week we have covered a number of early-stage studies that could lead to potentially huge breakthroughs in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, long Covid, bacterial diseases, bone cancer, and autoimmune conditions.   The top stories:  mRNA vaccine 100% effective […]

Researchers have shown for the first time that malfunctioning behaviour of a type of immune cell is linked to specific symptoms of long Covid. Normally functioning monocytes, made in the bone marrow, would travel through the blood to the lungs where they surround and kill the virus and boost the immune response. However, scientists and clinicians […]

Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have found that high consumption of a common artificial sweetener, sucralose, lowers activation of T cells in mice. If found to have similar effects in humans, one day it could be used therapeutically to help dampen T cell responses. For example, in patients with autoimmune diseases who suffer from […]

AELIX Therapeutics has announced positive results from its randomised, placebo-controlled Phase IIa therapeutic HIV vaccine and immune modulator combination clinical trial.  The AELIX-003 trial evaluated the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity and efficacy of AELIX’s HTI T-cell therapeutic HIV vaccine in combination with Gilead’s investigational Toll-Like Receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist, vesatolimod (VES), in people with HIV on […]

University of Queensland researchers have identified a pathway in cells that could be used to reprogramme the body’s immune system to fight back against both chronic inflammatory and infectious diseases. Dr Kaustav Das Gupta and Professor Matt Sweet from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience discovered that a molecule derived from glucose in immune cells can […]

The latest Omicron variants of Covid could be protective against serious influenza infection, a leading testing expert says. The milder variants have now made Covid-19 less dangerous than the flu, though there is still the risk of developing long Covid. Dr Quinton Fivelman PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at London Medical Laboratory, says: “Finally, there may […]

Both inactivated and live-attenuated vaccines generally produce an adequate immune response and are safe to use in children suffering with autoimmune diseases treated with all but the most potent immunosuppressants, according to a research review. A team from The University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust examined 37 original articles: 25 studied the […]